Pneumatic music-player.



PA'TENTED JAN. 15, 1907.

F. W. WINTER. PNEUMATIC MUSIC PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.28.1905.

J$ ederick Wilder Guam mommaw 72 1? Kiwi PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907.

F. WQWINTE PNEUMATIC MUSIC PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-28. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

r 31 wewl oz fiederz'aiv WWW I Vi n o This invention relatesto UNITED sTATEs PATENT onnron. FREDERICK ,w. iVINTER, OF NEW YORKf-NQ'Y.

PNEUMATIC MQ S 'lCEP-LAYER.

1 Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Jan; 15,. 1907.

Application tiled Federalist 28 1905 Serial No, 293,656-

Be it known that I, 'FnEnER1oK'-W. WIN:-

TER, a citizen of. the United States ofAmerica, and. a r'esident of New-York,'in the county and State of New York, have invents lowing is a specification.

certain new and" useful improvements inpneum'atic layers;

made a part of any piano of the upright type and it has forits objects, among ot ers, to provide a player that'can be placed inandrbe ward-appearance of the piano.

The primary object of the: present inven-' tion is to provide means for-actuating the le- The said actuating means are normally hidden beneath the key loed and'adapted tobe pulled out when desired for use.

The invention is capable'of embodiment in a variety of forms, some of which are herein illustrated.

features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention inits preferredform is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which with the numerals of reference marked thereon form a part of this specification, and in which-5 vers employedin the-operation ofthe player, -which levers are disposed beneath the-key-.

Figure l is afro'nt elevation of an upright.

piano containing a player embodying" my I Y Y resent improvement w 1th the case and Power part of the piano broken away. Fig. 2

is an enlarged sectional detail with parts inelevation, showing one of the sliding rods, its

' ivoted member, and the clutch device.

*ig. 3 is a sectional detailshowing' one of the keys of the piano and the operatmg-rodand the drawer cooperating therewith in its d stended position and the pivoted member disposed vertically; Fig. 4 is a detail, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing a modification of the construction seen in Fig. 2.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

1 designates thewuter case'of an upright struetio'n; 2 isthe key-bed, 3 the keyboard, 'all jas useufralj j .gTl e-gparts of the player not forming di- "rectly a partof the present iinventiondo' not needdescription herein. Thaw ,chosemto" lated with the elements formingtthe subjectmatterherein "claimed, and sucl'cparts'will be present invention. 7 H

4' is a tracker-board; 5, a seriesof tubes communicating with the air-passages therein; 7 ,a music-roll 6, a take-up roll 8, a' per forated sheet of musicunwinding: from the roll 7 upon the roll 6', and viceversa. is a pneumatic motor with driving mechtor is located at one side-and supported-u 'on board, music-rolls, and sheet are supported upon the light framework 12. --A 1005 these parts may be of any well-known or-approved form of construction and operating imam-wellknown way. p I

It is not deemed necessary to enter into-a detailed description of the exha'ust chests, the

ments of the player, eXce t to sta-te that 13 is avalve-box upon one si e and 'l i the valvebox upon the other side.

openings indicated, whie 17 and. 18 are valves mounted to slide intheiboxil le and eating with said-box, assufficientlyillustrated in Fig. 1.

19 and 20 are valve-boxes-at'oppositesid'es. of the player, and in said-boxes are slides valves for the purpose .o f-scon'trolling openin s leading from said boxes.

well as thevalves 1n the boxes. 19*and 20, are

called forte-pedal, or,more properly. speaking, the damper-controller; which there are five, are seen clearlyin 'Fi 1, wherein they are designatedib'y; numera s 21, 22, v23, 24, an'df25, df which 1e'vers;21, '22-.

piano of well-lmow'n on any approved-con referred toonlyas briefly as will be necessary to a proper understanding'of the construction and operation of the: parts'constitu'ting' the eXhausting-feeders,- or the storage be'llow sf or the pneumatics, or any of the other-ele- 15 and 16 are valves within the valve=box= 13,.said valves being ada ted tocontrol theactuated by suitable levers, as is also the so- These leyersf,, of

show only :suchparts as. are 1directly correanism'1'0 of -any-approved nature. 'Dh'e mosuitable framework .11-,"wh'ile the trac ercentrally in the upper part of the ia'no-case adapted tocontrol the-openings communi- "too he valves 15 and '16 and;17'and"l 8,vas=

' controller.

23, and 24 are adapted to actuate the above- 'mentioned valves ,while the lever actuate s,

through suitable connections, the damper- Thel'ever 21 isconnecte'd with the valve 16 by rod or link26' and with the valve 18 by means of-the rod or link 27. The lever 22 is connected, by rod or link 28, with the valve 15, while the lever 24 con nects, by red or link connection 29, with the valve 17. The center 'lever 23 connects',by means of rods or links and 31, with the valves of the=boxes 19 and 20, respectively.

The lever 25 connects with the fortepedal or 'damper controller, above mentioned, by -means of a rodor link 32, a bell-crank lever 33,and other suitablelinkage'.

Each lever is thus sus ended from its-respective rock-shaft, whic latter. extends transversely of the key-bed, across the under side thereof, and'is journaled in han ers or pendent brackets'36 and 37', as seen 0 early in Fig.

2, and in which said rook-shaft is mounted to freely slide. j'Eachfrock-shaft has near its rear end a fixed; clutchmemb.er '38, (shown clearly in Fig. 2,)whiclr is adapted to engage the before-mentioned clutch member 34 35 when drawn forward and after such engage ment to oscillate the thereto-connected upon the shaft being rocked. A handle 39 is attached to the-outer'end of each rockshaft 35 to provide'aponvenient' means of rocking it, the connection between s'aidhandie and shaft bein 'af pivotal one, as seen at i "40, so that whent e instrument is about to be used the severalrock-shafts can be pulled outward, as seenfin Fig. 3, and their-respecaway tive handles made to stand vertically at right angles-to the Iengthof the shaft, as in .dicated in Fig. 3, just in front of the key-bed,

and when the instrument is not in use the handles may be turned down in line with their respective rock-shafts and pushed back with them under the-key-bed, as indicated in Fig. 2. It will be understood that when thus pushed back the clutch member 38 is moved clutch member 34, as seen in Fig. 2. For

further convenience a drawer 41 is provided,

to the rear end of which the outer ends of the rock-shafts are loosely held byany suitable means, as' straps or clamps 42,- and within which drawer t e handles may rest whenin I their recumbent positions, as seen in Fig. 2. a This drawer fits inangular supports or guide- 43, secured to the underside of the key- "bed at itsforward end, and as it slides in or? out, as the case maybe, operates to move-the from and out of engagement withtherock-shafts, their handles, and the clutch members 38 simultaneously'in the same di-- rection. Thedrawer may be provided with.

asuitabledepending portion, asv 44, (seen in 'Fig. 2,) by which it may be pulled out or pushed in. In some cases I may provide the drawer with a depending pin or the like 45, adapted to engage a suitable stop 46 to limit the inward movement of the drawer and stop it, when pushed in, at a point/where its outer face will be in vertical alinement with the outer face of the key-bed, as'seen in Fig 2. In Fig. 1 the drawer is re resented as pulled out and the handles 39 al standingin their vertical positions ready for operation.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modification of the construction illustrated in Fig. 2, but designed for bringing about the same result in substantially the same manner. In this view 47 is the rock-shaft, and 48 the depending lever.. Inthisform, however, the rockshaft and lever are integral or rigid with each other, and the forward end of. the shaft is re ceived within a tubular portion 49 of the sliding member '50, to the forward end of which is connected the member 51, to which the handle 52 is pivoted at 53. The rock shaft 47 .in this instance is the equivalent of the rock-shaft 35 in Fig. 2, and, although .not shown, a drawer similar to that'sihown in Fig. 2 is to be employed in connection therewith for the same purpose. The inner end of the tubular part 49 is rovided with a longitudinal slit 54, while t e rock-shaft'is %rovided with a 55, sliding in said slot.

y this means, w le the rock-shaft is at all times capable of being rocked by manipulajtion of the handle 52, the member 50 can be slid in and out 'inthe same manner as can be i-tlie' rock-shaft 35, above described in connaction with Fi'g. 2.

I The operation of this form: will be ap arent. As the drawer is pulled forward a of the members 50 will be pulled forward therewith, and when in proper (position the handles 52 may be turned vertically andthe rock-shafts actuated as may be desired. I

F-rom the above it will be evident that I have' 'devised a simple and'eflicient constructionfand arrangement of parts for accomplishing'the end sought, and one in which no cutting or other'alteration of the key-bed is necessa and also one in which the pivoted hand es and the rock-shafts are normally beneath the key-bed and hidden from view,

and while the structural embodiments of my invention as herein disclosed are what I at the present'time consider the preferable ones it is evident that changes, variations and modificationsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the .invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. I therefore do not wish to be restricted to the details of construction, proportions of parts etc, as hereinbefore disclosed, but reserve the right to make such changes, variations, and .modificae tions as come properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

What I claim as new is- '1. In a pianolayer, a lever, a slidable I rock-shaft movab e independent thereof and having a pivoted operating member, slidable means for concealing said operating member movable therewith, and means for connectin g said shaft and lever whereby the latter is. actuated as the shaft is rocked.

2. In a piano-player, a level", a slidably mounted rock-shaft having an operating member, means for connecting the two for joint operation, and slidable'means o era- I tively connected with the rock-shaft an con structed to conceal its operating member.

3. In a piano-player, a lever, av slidablymounted rock-shaft for operating the same, a pivoted member on said rock-shaft, and

means for concealingsaid pivoted member when the rock-shaft is pushed in. p

4. In apiano-player, a lever, a slidablymounted rock-shaft for actuating the same, an actuating member pivoted to said rockshaft, and slidable means-for moving said -rockshaft and for concealing its pivoted and forclutching it therewith, means for slid'-- ing the shaft in and out and rocking it and slidable means movable with the last-named.

means and normally receiving the same.

8. A piano-player comprising a plurality of valves and. levers therefor, slidable rockshafts journaled in parallel lines, means for operatively connecting each lever with one rock-shaft, and a sliding drawer to slide the rock-shafts in and out simultaneously.

9. In a piano-player, tempo and expression devices, means forelfcctin the operation of said tempo and expression devices adapted to be moved inward when not in use, and slidable concealing means movable with and carrying the first-mentioned means. 7

10." In a pianolayer, tempo and expression devices, slida lymounted means for operating said tempo and expression devices,

and pivotally-mounted actuating devices carried by said means, and concealing means ,for said actuating devices, said means being mounted'for reciprocation.

11. In a pianolayer, tempo'and expression devices, slida lymounted means for operatin said tempo and expression devices,

ivota lymounted actuating devices carried y said means and a receptacle movable with and receiving said pivoted means.

- 12. In a piano-player, a lever, a rock-shaft slidably mounted in said lever, clutch mechanism between said rock-shaft and lever, an

operating 'member for said rock-shaft pivotally connected therewith, and means for normally concealing said member.

13. In a piano-player, a lever, a slidablymounted rock-shaft. an operating member for said rock-shaft pivotally connected therewith, and means for normally concealing said member, said concealing means being movgble with and receiving the operating mem- 14. In a piano-player, tempo and expression devices, means for effecting the opera tion thereof mounted for movement in a horizontal plane, and slidably-mounted means movably connected therewith and receiving the same.

Signed by me at New York city this 27th day of December, 1905.

- FREDERICK I/V. WINTER. I/Vitnesses:

QUINTIN LEE, A. NUss. 

